Letter box.



L. BH'RLIGH.

LETTER BOX.

APPLICATIONIILBD FEB. 2, 1909.

Patented Feb. 8, 1910.

'Fi .3. Wibneeeee Q Ammew a. GRMAM co., Pncmrmnoemvnms. wsummcll. n.12.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFT@E LEO EI-IBLICH, 0F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNGR T0 U. S. MAIL CHUTE EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION.

LETTER-BOX.

Original application filed October 15, 1906, Serial No. 339,131.

Specification of Letters Patent.

2, 1909. Serial No. 475,685.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lno EHRLICH, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Letter-Boxes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a vertical sectional view through my improved letter box arranged at Jthe bottom of a mail chute; Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the box removed; Fig. 3 is a fragm-entary plan view of said box; Fig. 4L is a sectional View on line 1 -4, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the closure for the inner receptacle.-

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in letter boxes, the object being to construct a box of the character described which can be placed in a mail-receiving box at the lower end of a mail chute, the said letter box receiving the mail from chute and being capable of being removed, the act of removal closing the mail-receiving aperture.

W'here mail chutes are installed in public `buildings and are accessible to employees of the Post Office Department at all mail-collecting hours, it is only necessary to provide a receptacle 23 at the bottom of the chute, access to which receptacle may be gain-ed through a door 24, and the key to the lock of which is held by the post o'tiice employee. In private buildings, however, such as de'- partment stores or other places where the proprietors desire to provide public conveniences, mail chutes cannot be used unless the building is kept open so as to permit employees of the post ofi-ice to obtain access to the receptacle at all collecting hours. This, of course, is not feasible and I have there fore provided a means whereby mail deposited in the chtite may be transmitted to the post office in a receptacle, the carrier not having access to the mail.

Referring now to Fig. 2, a receptacle 25 is shown, which receptacle is provided with a door 26, said door being locked and the key being in the possession of an employee of the post oiHce. This receptacle 25 is of such size as to be introduced into the receptacle 23, and is provided with a mail-receiving opening in line with the chute and through which opening mail deposited in the chute will pass into said receptacle 25. A closure is provided for this opening and means are arranged to operate this closure and close the said opening when the receptacle 25 is removed for transportation to the post otlice. This closure is in the form of a plate 27 slidingly mounted in guides 29 arranged on the top of the receptacle 25.

28 is a section hinged to the plate 27, a torsion spring 30 exerting its energy to hold the plate in an upright position. The ends of hinged section 28 ride upon the guides 29 and prevent the hinged section from locking the plate 27 in its closed position until such time as said hinged section shall have passed the ends of said guides, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3.

30LL is a fiat yielding plate mounted on the under side of the top wall of the receptacle 23 in line with the hinged section 28 as shown in Fig. l. Then the receptacle 25 is removed the free end of this plate 30EL engages the hinge section 28, forcing the plate 27 to move to its closed position, and when the plate 27 is home the hinge section 28 will have been moved past the flanges on the guide pieces 29 so that the hinge section 28 may be folded down as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3. The hinge section 28 is provided with two spring-pressed latch bolts 3l which are connected to sliding pieces 32, which sliding pieces have pinch handles 33 arranged thereon. Then the'hinge section 28 is moved by the plate 30 to a horizontal position, the latch bolts 31 register with recesses 34 in the side walls of the receptacle 25. The springs pressing the latch bolts outwardly cause them to engage said recesses as shown in Fig. 4. These latch bolts together with the ends 29a of the flanges on the guiding plates prevent the plate 27 from being opened from the exterior. Consequently, when this inner receptacle is removed from the receptacle 23 the opening in said inner receptacle is coincidently closed and locked in its closed position so that it cannot be opened from the outside, and thus the said inner receptacle may be carried to the post oilice where a key to the door 26 thereof is kept, and when said door is opened access may be had to the interior thereof. IVhen the door 26 is open a person may grasp the pinch heads 23 and retract the bolts 31 so that the hinge plate 27 may be slid back to open the mail-receiving aperture of the receptacle. When the receptacle is introduced in the box 23 the plate 30 Will yield sutticiently to permit the hinge section to ride thereunder and be in readiness to again close the plate 27 by cooperating with said hinge section in the manner hereinbefore described, when the inner receptacle is removed.

Instead of having the Walls of the inner receptacle made up ot' sheet metal they can be made up of canvas or other flexible material.

I am aware that minor changes in the construction, arrangement and combination of the several parts oi my device can be ,made and substituted for those herein shown and described Without in the least departing` from the nature and principle of my invention.

This application is a division of an application filed by me October 15th, 1906, Serial No. 339,131.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination with a mail chute, a removable receptacle having a mail-receiving aperture, a closure for said aperture, said closure comprising a sliding plate, a hinge section on said sliding plate, and spring-pressed bolts arranged in said hinge section and adapted to lock said closure in its closed position; substantially as described.

2. In combination with a mail chtite, a removable receptacle having a mail-receiving aperture, a closure for said aperture comprising a sliding plate, a hinge section at one edge of said sliding plate, locking bolts carried by said hinge section for locking the same in its closed position, and means arranged inside of the removable receptacle for operating said locking bolts; substantially as described. w

3. A portable letter box, having a mail receiving aperture, a sliding plate for closing said aperture, a member hinged to said plate, a means on said hinged member for locking the plate in closed position, and Which plate and locking means are actuated When the letter box is removed from its holder.

4. A portable letter box for mail chute receptacles, provided with a mail receiving aperture,a sliding closure for said aperture which is closed When the box is removed from the receptacle, a hinged member on the closure which occupies a vertical position when the closure is in an open position, and which hinged member is engaged by a part of the receptacle When the box is removed therefrom, and means carried by said hinged member for locking the closure.

5. A portable letter box, having a mail receiving aperture, a sliding member for closing said aperture, a hinged section on said sliding member, yielding means for normally, holding said hinged section in an upright position, and locking members carried by said hinged member and adapted to engage With the body of the box when the hinged member occupies a horizontal position.

G. A portable letter box having a mail receiving aperture, a sliding plate for closing said aperture, a hinged section on said sliding plate, and a pair of oppositely disposed spring-pressed bolts carried by the hinged section for locking the sliding plate in its closed position.

7. A portable letter box having a mail receiving aperture, a sliding plate for closing said aperture, a hinged section on said sliding plate, a pair of oppositely disposed spring-pressed bolts carried by the hinged section for locking the sliding plate in its closed position, and means whereby said bolts may be Withdrawn to unlock the sliding plate.

S. A portable letter box having a mail receiving aperture, a sliding plate for closing said aperture, a hinged section on said sliding plate, a pair of oppositely disposed spring-pressed bolts carried by the hinged section for locking the sliding plate in its closed position, and means arranged inside the box for operating said locking bolts.

9. The combination with a portable letter box, having a mail receiving aperture of a closure 'for said aperture, comprising a sliding plate and a hinged plate, which plates are automatically closed when t-he letter box is removed from its support, and means carried by the hinged plate for locking both plates when closed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses, this 80th day of January, 1909.

LEO EHRLICH.

IVitnesses:

F. R. CORNWALL, LENORE CLARK. 

